LADY OF SHALOTT

Lord Tennyson Victorian Ballad, "Lady of Shalott."

The inspiration behind this mixed media project.

There was an aubergine (the color purple...in the eggplant hue) challenge that I entered. This art work did not make the cut for the magazine. I love it regardless of publication or not.

My favorite color is purple, I crave that color and hold back from abusing it in my work. On top of purple, mixing it with Victorian romance well, it made my day or several days, to be exact a week, working on this mixed media.

Wish I had close up details so you can see what fun I had sneaking little beauties all over the place. After I was done with this piece, my floor spoke evidence of all the beads, lace, flowers which I packed and I mean packed into it.

Challenges offer a chance to explore a world that you have not yet discovered. Over the years of creating art and writing, I have enough rejection slips to wallpaper the house. But I also have some blessed samples of my writing and art work published. Truly, my life is not complete without using my creativity. In fact, if I've skipped a week, my husband reminds me to go to my studio. And I come out happy. Got to love a man who understands what makes his wife tick!


I must state that our family had been blessed this past year. We are so thankful for time together, for the healing of my husband and prostate cancer, for our older daughter acquiring a job as a teacher and her husband working also. And for our younger daughter, finding a wonderful place to worship with other kids her age and learning to be herself, in this pressured world of being something else. Truly God blesses us daily.

Have a day filled with peace joy hope and love.
Elaine

ONE MORE COMPLETED...

I have to tell the truth, I took this picture fast, and it flat out looks better in your hands. Oh well, sometimes, ok, most of the time I scrap and do things around the house at the same time. Sometimes it's a rush, when the dogs are barking to go out and I am attempting to take a picture. We all have those day. Well, I do. But this is another picture of my mother-in-law, and her sister and a friend. They are doing the final inspection before the walk down the aisle.

I distressed the edges and the ribbon, and added some string ribbon with jewels hanging from it. It was fun to do, and now it's time to add it to the in-laws wedding book. I promise it will be angled correctly in the book!



Hope you have a wonderful Sunday evening.
Blessings,
Elaine

WEEKEND IN MY STUDIO

Where does the weekend go? In fact, where does the week go? I had all these plans to get into the studio and now, it's Sunday afternoon and I am entering the studio. It's so cold for this Texas gal. New England sneaks up with that cold air. Brrrr. I set the thermostat for Texas summer degrees downstairs, turned on two space heaters, and then upstairs, the other thermostat is also set to August in Texas. I'm wearing two pairs of socks, sweats and can now feel my toes, well most of them.

I finished another layout of my in-laws. My friend Lisa's schedule is so busy, and she still makes time to do her layouts. It's motivated me to get into that studio, with no excuse.

Well back to the studio...

Keep yourself warm.

Elaine

CHRISTMAS CARDS

The most wonderful time of the year...the celebration of the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Our 12 y.o. dd honored us by making our Christmas card this year. We took this painting and had it made into cards. Pardon the picture I took, I was/am rushing today, and trying to remind myself not to rush, just enjoy it all. Not always easy for me or for some of you who I know actually read this blog. I love this picture, it's so fun to look at and find all the interesting things that are happening. It reminds me of the first time I took to the slopes!


Thanks for looking.
Keep Christ in Christmas.
Elaine

SIMPLICITY

With this lay out, I used DCWV paper, crunched both pieces of paper into a ball, ripped the edges and then inked them. Glued them together, and adhered the vellum typed paper. Distressed and inked the edges of the photo and background photo paper, added trim, and glued it down. This paper is so beautiful with black velvet designs. I have such a hard time using this paper, due to it's beauty, but when I do, I realize that I can make a layout, without using a lot of embellishments. The paper does all the work.


We all have our own style, but it's nice to find simplicity in your paper.
I pray that you and your loved ones has a very blessed Thanksgiving.

Elaine

MY BABIES ARE HOME

When I send my art work off for submissions, it's scary, exciting, but most of all, it's wonderful to see it arrive home, especially after it has been published.

Here is my first baby, back home from The Stamper's Sampler. I loved making this card (see Hopeless Romantic post) and you might get an insight to my mind. My friend Lisa bought the chandelier stamp also, and some of the papers. Dare I say, she's got the disease also.

Both my MOO card submissions returned home last week. This one I love. What hopeless romantic wouldn't love the beach. Ok, my dear friend, Cracker, (Laurie) would prefer the mountain views, and that fits her perfectly.

And here is the final return, also published in The Stamper's Sampler. Great magazine by the way. If you buy a copy, I promise you will not put it down for hours! This card, Dream For You, is again, another romantic theme but I added some "green" in it. That flower is the bottom of a plastic water bottle, that I cut lines downward, and then melted them, added some inks and nail polish and adhered a button on it. Voila, scrapping and recycling go hand in hand.

So these babies are home. I have several more submissions out there, and it's just a waiting game. But the good thing about waiting, I keep myself busy with creating more and more and more...I love the arts!

Peace to all,

Elaine

HOPELESS ROMANTIC

Ask anyone I know, especially my husband, and two girls, they will tell you, I am a hopeless romantic. I watch Pride and Prejudice once a month, and every romantic comedy, I own! I found several pictures of my husband's parents, when they were dating, holding hands, I just cried. Yes, true tears. Hand holding, a simple gesture, but such a meaningful connection.

I used some more wonderful G45 paper, and had some fun making up flowers from an assortment of goodies I have in the studio.

Here's to all the romantics out there.
Blessings.
Elaine

NEW LOVE

Falling in love, during WWII. My husband's parents did just that. I've found so many wonderful photographs of their past. Many more lo's to make, but I am thankful that I have the opportunity to make them, to share with the family. I used G45 paper and odds and ends that I have collected. I found this old napkin at a tag sale and finally a chance to use it, as the weathered material in the background. I have a shelf full and love to just pull on some material and watch it all fall tumbling down. (Another job, can you say $$ for the daughter!)

Thanks for looking. Have a wonderful day.

Elaine

PHOTO CORNERS

Oh my! I cleaned out my studio, ok, my daughter did a majority of it and got paid to reorganize my containers. I found at some point in this addiction, that I bought every color of photo corners. What to do, what to do with these 100's of photo corners. Here's one idea. I put them together, ink distressed, lifted the edges up and voila. I now have only 487 more photo corners to use. But it keeps me thinking, what can I use this item for, besides it original intent. (Ok, to rid myself of guilt, of I bought this, what was I thinking? and now I have to use it.)

Hope you find use for all those last minute "I gotta have this" buys!

Keep thanking the good Lord for all your blessings.

Elaine

CARDS AND HEART

A few wonderful cards I received from a swap. The yellow is from my friend, Lisa, and it has the cutest bees buzzing around. The other is from Melissa and the bear is just so darn huggable. Thanks ladies, they are hanging on my studio wall.

And on to homeschooling and the anatomy of the heart. I asked my 12 y.o. to draw the heart and diagram it. This is what she handed in. I thought it was so cute. So what if it's not labeled. (She did it later on another piece of paper.) Just love it when kids do their own thing, straight from the heart! I know, a corny joke, but I couldn't resist.

Peace,

Elaine

John 3:30 says, "He must become greater, I must become less."

NEW ENGLAND FALL

To those who grew up in Texas, this foliage still take my breath away. I've snapped so many pictures, even my husband has that "enough don't you think" look. But I just can't get enough of these colors. And any camera, any canvas can not do God's colors justice.

Here is the maple in our yard, overnight, it turned burnt orange. Amazing!

I love to garden, but I haven't a clue what this tree is, but every fall, this tree turns vibrant red, I see these bushes everywhere, so I call them red bushes. It works for me. It's like a firework exploding.

We open our front door to this majestic view. And this is after they fell a lot of trees. We don't remove our leaves from the ground immediately. We just let them sit a few days, cuddled around the tree trunk. Such a sight. I have many many more, but they are marked for scrapping.

Wishing you a wonderful day of creating and believing in yourself.

Blessings,

Elaine

All you need are friends...

You have friends and you have friends. Cracker and I have been pals for so long, elementary school and forward. We've traveled together, shared our dreams, sorrows, fears and tears. Life has blessed me with such a dear friend. I've mentioned in previous blogs, she passes on her vintage lace and quilts to me to use for my art projects. I feel like I won the lottery, with her friendship. Here's a layout using old vintage photo paper from the 1850's, vintage lace and some other odds and ends that she passed on to me. I am blessed by all the friends I have in my life.

Peace and blessings to you.

Elaine

SOME ART BLOG PICS

WOW! Time went by and I promised I would post. Now I am back and promising myself again. I have lots of fun things to post and am back in the studio. Here's on of our oldest daughter, and lots of G45 paper.


And who is this happy fellow? It's Queso, our turtle. We rescued him minutes from a moving tire. Tried several times to rehabilitate him, but it didn't work. He's fascinating to watch and what a personality he has. I didn't know I would bond with a reptile, but bond away I have. My family laughs when I talk to him.

Happy Times. A lot of scraps from G45 paper. I liked the way this card turned out.

A simple but sweet baby card, again, using some G45 scraps.

Off to upload some more photos for your viewing pleasure:)

Blessings,

Elaine

TIME FLIES

Time does indeed fly. I took a long sabbatical during my husbands surgery and post op recovery and treatment with prostate cancer. We are so blessed with the first follow up PSA which read undetectable. What a blessing. There will be continuous PSA from now on, but with faith, we will live each day to it's fullest. And talk about fullest, it appears days are more than full! The extended family went back to Texas and August in CT was hot, some days, hotter than Texas. We spent time together as a family, nurturing each other. And now it's back to work for Bill and some serious homeschooling for our youngest daughter. A lot of new lessons and more details into those core classes and the electives. Actually I am teaching an Art History course and learning the new PowerPoint on Vista. Our older daughter is loving her job as a second grade teacher. We are so proud of her!

Was blessed to receive an additional copy of the Stampers' Sampler and found out that I was published. In the past , I was notified with emails, but this time was a shock, I ran upstairs jumping and I mean serious jumping, I couldn't even read it, just saw my art work and turned into a hopping maniac. Once I showed my husband and younger daughter, and stopped the hopping, I was able to read what it was all about! Talk about an adrenalin boost. I was so very thankful for that publishing, it was my favorite card and was so hard to part with. I love the stamps from Impress, the chandeliers...so romantic!

My goal, now that life is back to a normal (what we would call normal) routine, is to hit the studios in the evening, since it's been all cleaned and reorganized. A job that the younger daughter did. Yes, for some good money. I didn't know how many flowers I really had. Flower denial I call it! Embellishment denial also. Paper denial, anything from the lss denial, that should cover it all.

May your lives be full of peace and blessings.
Love,
Elaine

"Cast your cares on Him because He cares for you"
1Peter 5:7

The Stampers' Sampler

Hey it's out. The Aug/Sep 2009 issue of The Stampers' Sampler. They published two of my MOO cards. Lots of wonderful art work in this magazine. Go buy one and check it out.

TFL!

Peace,

Elaine

A GIFT FROM DADDY'S GIRLS

While Bill was in the hospital, our girls made a belated Father's Day gift for their daddy. Here it is. A beautiful mixed media mural of the girls and Bill. They had it hung up, ready for viewing. When we entered our home, that was the first thing that caught our eyes, and tears flowed easily down our cheeks. We are so blessed with these two girls and their love for their daddy.

I really tried to take quality pictures, but I don't think I captured the beauty of their work. Debbie, from the Inspiration Station, a lss in CT, wrote about a photo workshop, and I think it's time for me to seriously learn about my camera!

Doo and Skibby, we are so proud of you!

BLESSED NEWS

I received notice that my submitted art work will be published in the August/September 2009 The Stampers' Sampler.

What a thrill this is for me. I love Stampington Company magazines and enjoying submitting my work to them.

I'll upload the picture when I received my magazine. A special thanks to my swap sistahs who always encourage me, Cracker, my girls, my husband {who not only encourages me, but $$ supports me in this addiction} and of course, the good Lord.

Peace to all.
Elaine

CREATING AGAIN

Off to a great start, creating is such therapy to the soul. The only thing {in my opinion} better, is walking the beach. Nothing sooths the soul like the sounds of the beach. And better yet, a beach house with a studio, sigh...
We are blessed, it's a beautiful Friday full of life. The dogs are catching sunshine from the windows, typical summer day. Thanks for looking.

Blessings to all.

Elaine

p.s. more trivia will strike very soon

A Million Memories

The wonderful web site, A Million Memories, chose my lo for new Monday Member.


Corien chose this layout because she, "loves the painted and crackled background with the fishing net."If you want to see more from Elaine check out her gallery here and be sure to leave her some love on this layout by clicking here. Stop by tomorrow for a Technique Tuesday with Wendela.I didn't find out this was posted on their web site until I came home from the hospital with Bill. What a blessing. I really like this web site, a great design team, great challenges, kits and shopping deals.

Special thanks to Joy, as she was looking for texture...that started my brain reaction. {Thanks Joy for always reading and asking about techniques and supplies.}

Blessings.
Elaine

.

MORE SWAP TREASURES

Starting with Split Coast Stampers to Stamp or Not, this was fun, no stamping on the card. Some great Cricut cuts...always think of Carrie and how she finds these Cricut fonts and enables everyone else to buy them.

Here are some of the Card A Month cards I received. I have more to photograph, that are hanging on my wall. These are all so beautiful, and each with their own style. I just can't get over how creative these gals are.

TFL.

Peace to all.

Elaine

SWAMPED IN SWAPS

Taking time off means finding all those wonderful treasures that I opened, piled up in my studio, ready to be photographed and viewed again. Here, the Graphic 45 card and tag swap goodies. That was a fun swap, love to play with tags and cards.

Off to upload some more swaps.
TFL
Elaine

BELATED DAYS

Not that I forgot Father's Day, just that I took time off to be with my family while my husband went through diagnosis and surgery for prostate cancer. We are back home, our oldest daughter left {miss her dearly} and today, Aunt Sharon left {another one we are missing} but the good news is, Bill is healing from the surgery and we are blessed. There will months of PSA blood workup to follow, but my friend, Lisa L. Bemis sent me a beautiful plaque that her company makes in Maine. It says, "Cast Your Cares On Him Because He Cares For You." 1 Peter 5:7 and that is what we are doing. Living the life we were given. This was Bill's Father's Day card, simple, honest and sincere. I also want to express my love for my dad, Gene, for being such a wonderful father, always supportive, and there for me. I love you Dad! And for Ted, Bill's father, who is now seated at the right hand of the Father, we miss you and love you. Steve, what a wonderful step dad to Bill and a great "Wonder" of a man to all of the family. And to Hammond, another wonderful man called home, it was a blessing to know you.

...and the lecture, Bill is only 51, had some prostate screening, and thank goodness at 51 he had another PSA. Prostate cancer hits 1 in 6 men. Please make sure the men in your life get this blood test done. It's a prevention that can save your loved ones.

Blessings,

Elaine

MORE BACKGROUNDS

Still playing with backgrounds. Yes, even with all the paper I own, and I will confess, I have a serious paper addiction, I still like the background challenges. This was a hair style that I work on for around 30 minutes, for our little girl. It did turn out well, considering I am not in anyway a beautician.

I worked with zig zag stitching, stencils and glimmer mist of several colors, stamps and then crystal lacquer covered with liquid acrylic paint. And though you can't see it, I used different liquid acrylics to splatter on the lo. The chip boards were laid down after I played with some shadowing techniques. And some beautiful buttons from Courtney, who swapped them to me. Thanks Court. Love the colors.

Trying to do more challenges than swaps right now. Challenges push me towards new discoveries. {And leave my studio a mess}

Peace.

Elaine

TIME FOR DAD

Father's Day is approaching, and time for me to make those cards and some fun lo's for my hubby. Here is one with our oldest daughter, and daddy, a few years back. It's always important to me that the girls have time with dad, alone. The girls get date nights with daddy. Quality time is so important.


TFL.
Elaine

WILDERNESS MENTALITY

I've followed this web site for awhile, reading the catalyst and finally decide to join in on catalyst 65.

http://creativetherapy.wordpress.com/

My journaling states Eleven days, not forty years. In some areas of my life, I want to stop running around lost in the wilderness , and just use my faith to go forth and achieve my goals, no more lost and found in the wilderness. Time for a new journey. The eleven days push forth.
Peace. TFL.
Elaine

SURF ADVENTURE

A trip to Aunt Sue's in Ocean City, NJ was a hit years ago. My little surfer girl was trying so hard not to get wet, but daring to run in and out of the waves. Holding those shorts high, but sigh, at the end, they were wet. Now, when we go to the beach, just to walk, I bring an extra pair of clothes and towel, since I know we will end up in the water. Surfs always up in our world.

I created this background instead of using the tons of paper I had. Mixed media challenges me, and I love to find things to add to a picture.

Thanks for looking.

Peace,

Elaine

Old, New, A Layout Coming Soon...

Oh the joys of living in the New England area, where snow plows exist for reasons, and destroy for other reasons. Here is my old mail box, that Lisa has a perfect name for. And voila, our new mail box, untouched by the snow plow for now. Hopefully, I will not be showing you a picture of the new box with duct tape, bungee cords and cracked studs after the winter of 2010. I'll have a layout coming soon. Need to finish my swaps first.

Peace.
Elaine

Dogs...

Oh I am indeed a dog lover. But after my precious Sedona passed away, we went a few months and ended up adopting two labs from a rescue organization. They have been a loving headache.

This is Miley Elizabeth, she is nothing but a brat, who thinks she is a cat and rules the world. When she is sleeping, she is the cutest thing in the world. And the places I find her sleeping and her positioning makes me smile. She is so cute in the picture, asleep with her front arms tucked under. Ahhhh...too precious.

And then there is Kota Bear, the big black lab, who is not allowed on the sofa. But when I leave, he sneaks up there and when I walk back in to the room, he slides off in guilt. Obviously at this moment, he wasn't feeling much guilt.

I do love my dogs, regardless of all their lack of manners at times.

Blessings.

Elaine

ANOTHER CARD SWAP

I joined a no stamp card swap and this is my card. Using the Big Shot background folder, then hues of the colors for flowers, ribbon and pearl alphabet letters, adhered on a back card of distress edges. Still working on design and dimensional. I do love the elegance of monochromatic schemes (leaves excluded) it is such a clean color scheme to play with.

Hope your day is full of love.

Elaine

Monochromatic colors are all the tints and shades (called hues) of a single color. Using these hues, the result is subtle, peace, due to a lack of contrast. Using monochromatic colors can be boring, unless you use diversity with your design.

DREAM

Another card for the monthly card swap. I'm trying a different approach, no distress, vintage, a clean simple style. Incorporating dimensional and items I have hidden deep in the drawer, drawing the focus on designs. Hope your dreams come true.

Have a blessed day. Dream, believe, create, live.
Elaine

Change your background

Backgrounds are always fun, and even more entertaining when you make your own. Here I used glimmer mist, stamps, ink, Stickles, grunge board, crystal lacquer, partial piece of paper and then a matchbox that I made. And keeping to my purple passion. Grab some paper, and make your own background designs, it's refreshing in so many ways.

Peace.

Elaine

And even more...

Sea horse...

Lady at the beach...

I miss you...

Happy thoughts...

Thanks for looking.

Blessings.

Elaine

Art history trivia: When Monet was older, he settled in Giverny, and painted his pond and water lillies. Amazingly, he was nearly blind and painted very close to his canvas. Water Lillies is an example of one of his finer paintings.

More tags and cards for the G45 swap

Hello, just like the card states. Hello to another viewing of cards and tags.

Have fun viewing them. I hope you enjoy them. Still a few more to download.

Blessings,

Elaine

Card and Tag Swap

If I am going to swap, it's best to do one with the G45 swapsters...that way I see my favorite papers and how others use them.
Here are a few tags and cards. Still more to come. I enjoyed making these, so much fun to play with all the details on the papers.

This is one of the cards, I am having fun making different styles of flowers to utilize in the designs. Many who know me, will recognize that I actually used one of my velvet flowers...and am finally letting go of them. (Found out where I can buy more, truth be told.)

A baby card, that I tried very hard to sew on. I wanted to sew with my machine, but that machine went on a unplanned vacation. Oh well, gets the creativity juice flowing. I was going to call Lisa and ask her to sew some stitches on it, since she is sewing happily on her cards now. But it was her birthday (Happy Birthday again, Lisa) so I didn't bother her, but next time.

Off to download some more.

Thanks for looking.

Elaine

s

BABY LOVE

It just doesn't get better than this. Mother holding her newborn baby and dad sharing in the emotional blessing.

Yet another photo from the massive Knies family box of treasured photos. In fact, my husband brought more back from Texas last week.

Please reflect on all the wonderful men and women who gave their lives protecting our country. Happy Memorial Day.

Blessings,

Elaine

Memorial Day info:It is a federal holiday celebrated the last Monday in May. Also known as Decoration Day. It commemorates United States men and women who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War and went to include any American causalities of war or military action.

DAISIES AND PEONIES

My daisies are so happy after the long night of rain. Floating high up, waving in the wind. So simple, so fresh. One day, I will do an album of flowers. Maybe two!

Uplifted petals, praising another beautiful day.

Peony time, brought to you by my stepmother, Kat. She loves peonies, but they don't like living in Texas. So she ordered me three plants, and finally, three years later, they are big bushes of flowering pastel pinks and yellow peonies. Here is the first bloom. With promises of at least 20 more to follow, so far.

Hope you have a blessed day.
Elaine

Inspirational quote: "Despite the changes that have come into our lives, and with gratitude in our hearts, may we fill our days-as much as we can-with those things which matter most." --T. S. Monson

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Happy Mother's Day

to

all the wonderful women

who give their

hearts and soul

to the children of the world

and to a very special mother

Peggy

my mother

I am blessed to have

I love you

Happy Mother's Day

CHURCHILL

I created this almost a year ago, for a circle journal swap, theme: favorite quote. Afterwards, several friends requested one, as they loved the quote. Thus begins another journey in my work, to recreate something I previously made. I see this layout and love it, but know that the next one will not be the same. But still, the idea will surface of a man, who spoke such powerful words. A statement that still drives people to obtain their goal. In this day with so much uncertainty, I hold on to my faith, and to many inspirational quotes. This is one of my favorites.

Never ever ever give up.
---Winston Churchill

Keep the faith.

Elaine

But for everyone, surely, what we have gone through in this period--I am addressing myself to the School--surely from this period of ten months, this is the lesson: Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy

---Winston Churchill

October 1941

KITCHEN AND KIDS

Have you ever noticed how kids love to help in the kitchen when they are young? Well I took this picture of our little dd 7 years ago, making a sandwich for herself. She was so proud and even cleaned up afterwards. Both of our girls are very talented in the culinary world. Always nice on days when you don't want to cook.


Thanks for visiting.
Elaine
Art history trivia: Rembrandt lived extravagantly with his wife, Saskia. When she died, he received fewer commissions. In 1657-58, his house and goods were auctioned off to pay his debts. His son, Titus, and girlfriend, Hendrijke formed an art dealing company that hired Rembrandt and saved Rembrandt from complete bankruptcy.

MOTHER'S DAY CARDS

I finished the Mother's Day cards. Whew just in time for the mail. They are all tags, vintage, distressed and ready to inscribe many sincere words on the back.

This one, is a picture of Bill's mom, after the birth of her first daughter, Bill's oldest sister. This will be her Mother's Day card. I love the picture.

I had fun making this one, a bit whimsical for a wonderful step mother in law who loves to garden.

And finally, one for my mom. Yes, that is really me as a newborn. All girlie girl pink lay out and mom will smile looking back at the photo of one of her seven children.

Blessings.

Elaine

Art history trivia: Vincent Van Gogh had a brother, Theo. Theo suggested that Van Gogh should be a painter. He sent Vincent money for canvases and paints. Theo, the younger brother supported Vincent all his life. Vincent died in Theo's arms and six month later, Theo died.

CURB DIVING

Good day to all. Curb diving? Dumpster diving? Have you tried it? Here was my find yesterday, while walking the dogs. Tile samples and some beautiful expensive samples at that. I told my husband I wanted to do a fun mosaic in our little bathroom. He vetoed that. But long ago, he taught me to use the wet saw! Then I thought, maybe I will add this to the mosaic I am planning that runs up a tiny stairwell wall, of Lincoln photo's and then this tile. Some of this, I will incorporate into my mixed media work. And then a few pieces in the garden. To me, I hit the jackpot. To others it's just trash. It's all a matter of what you see. If you look closer, it's not all ceramic, use your geological brain cells and see what you can find!

Wishing you a blessed day.

Elaine

Inspirational quote: "My painting is finished when I rejoin the first emotion that sparked it." --Matisse

ANOTHER WAY TO SCRAP

My newly married daughter, Blair, created yet another way to scrap pictures and use as decor. Sometimes it's hard to put your layouts in the scrapbook, there are so many memories that you want to share. This is a great idea that Blair composed and is now selling on her etsy shop.

Hope you see different ways to utilize your creativity.

Peaceful blessings to you.
Elaine

Remember: Appreciate your specialness, believe in yourself, discover God's love.

VINTAGE ADDICT

I am a hopeless romantic, hopelessly in love with anything old, distressed, weathered, stained... My husband is well trained in turning around for tag sales and curb diving items that I love to alter. Lucky me.

This is a card I made for my friend, Carrie. It's her birthday today!{Happy birthday again, Carrie.}

And it's that time of year to commence the making of Mother's Day cards and a massive amount of May birthday cards. Here's the first one for my mom. And more to come. I am considering making tags this year for Mother's Day cards. Something different is always fun to receive.

Blessings.

Elaine
Mother's Day and motherisms: Celebrating Mother's Day dates back to ancient Egyptians who held annual festivals to honor the goddess Isis (Mother of pharaohs.) Some motherisms you should know and probably use now:

If everyone jumps off a cliff would you do it?

Brush your teeth and wear clean underwear.

Do I look like an ATM?

M is for Mom, not for maid.

And yes, I will love you forever no matter what you do.

WHAT A GUY

The other half of my name, Knies (pronounced like niece) is from marrying a wonderful man. Bill is not only a trained artist, but a natural one. He received his BFA with a specialization in painting. I call it the starving artist degree. Then back to graduate school two times, for degrees that pay the bills. In his spare time, he paints again {yea} and this time with acrylics. He loves oil, but it is a stink bomb in the little cottage we live in. Here are a few samples. This one is of our girls 6 years ago, walking on the Atlantic shore.

The clay sculpture of the hand. I received this for my Christmas present one year. {Neat, eh!}

This is The Reverend Alfred "Ted" Knies, Jr. Bill's father. He was called home a few years ago. A wonderful man, father, grandfather, and Episcopalian Minister. And of course, another sculpture of Lincoln, to add to our shrine.

There are many more, that I will share with you later. It's a blessing to be married to such a great guy. Off to walk the dogs. Thanks for visiting.

Joy,

Elaine

Art history trivia: In the late 1940's, acrylic paint was used as house paint. The drying time of acrylics is short. Oil paints take longer to dry. Artist who preferred a shorter drying time turned to acrylic painting.

NICKNAMES

Why a nickname? I don't know. I believe my desire to create nicknames came from my dad. I'm just following the family tradition. Our oldest daughter, was simply "Baby." And then when the younger daughter was born, she called "Baby" "Doo." Don't ask what comes out of the words of babes. But the younger one, well she (running from the room as I write this) received "Skibby." My husband would tickle her belly with goofy words, and one was skib or something along those lines. I said, "Skibby!" And the rest is history.

Thanks for visiting.

Elaine's nickname trivia: Lainey and Ladnie

SIGNS OF SPRING

After 6 years in CT, I finally know the signs of Springs. {Coming from Texas, Spring is a blink into Summer}

Buds on my trees. And a clear blue sky. And not a coat on anyone!


Chives, not even shy, popping out! Ground covering of flowers that bloom overnight and last 3 weeks.

Handstands on grass, not snow.

Of course, checking out the damage the snow plow did to our annual mail box. Time to install a new one. When we first moved here, I was shocked to see my destroyed mailbox. Now, I think I am immune...I think... And the sweetest sign of Spring. Our younger daughter picking flowers, tying a pastel ribbon around them and dangling the bouquet on the glass door.

Spring time blessings to you.

Elaine

A little trivia: The word Spring is dated before the 12th century, several means, but I like "to come into being."

PILLOW TALK

Spring Break! The week I dream about sitting in my studio, creating and then gardening. In reality, that never happens. But I did complete this lo because I fell in love with the picture of our younger daughter and our black lab sleeping. My husband rushed downstairs, grabbed the camera, ran back up and snapped this shot. Our other dog, the chocolate lab didn't even move, to join in on the fun. Thanks for looking. Off to play with the family.

Peace!

Elaine

Art history trivia: In 1888 Eastman markets the Kodak camera and roll film.

CARD MONDAY

It's Spring Break, and Monday. After Donna introduced some more wonderful techniques, designs and ideas, here are my cards. My lss, Inspiration Station is a warm loving place. They even told me the new Graphic 45 paper is in. Got to love a store that knows your wants and needs! My 11 y.o. daughter went and had fun, but I believe the Easter chocolate detox hit about one hour after we started making cards. She is feeling better now. No chocolate today, even she doesn't want any(:


I thought I would work in the studio today, but it was so pretty outside,that we worked in the yard. If the weather holds out, this week will be studio and yard work, but I don't know which order!

Peace.
Elaine

Art history trivia: Pigments are colored powders used to make paint. During the Renaissance, pigments were not all cheap. Michelangelo used blue that was made from a rare gem, lapis lazuli, that was more expensive than gold. Michelangelo used that blue for the sky in his Last Judgement painting.

http://imagecache.allposters.com/images/pic/BRGPOD/112359~The-Last-Judgement-ceiling-painting-from-the-flattened-dome-of-the-church-stucco-Posters.jpg

DISTRESSED

Here is a distressed card I made for my neighbor's birthday. Earlier, I mentioned how I distress with my Dremel tool now, and I will get back with the photos of how I use it later. For now, I wanted to post this and mention that for all the mistakes you make, you don't have to trash your work, you just work around it. Note the eyelets and ribbon, put on due to a rip {over excited Dremel user} It shows that you don't have to quit and give up ok. Just you use your imagination.

TFL {Thanks for looking}

Peace.

Elaine

Art history trivia: In 1912, artists experimented with collage. One was Picasso. But we might recognize our current style of collage as scrapping.

Happy Blessed Easter

Just wishing all my family and friends a very blessed Easter.


Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these."

Peace-Joy-Love
Elaine

SEDONA

Hi! I finished my G45 sketch challenge of my dog Sedona. We had her for 12.5 years and I still miss that sweet girl. My friend, Carrie, adopted a dog named Daisy,who's looks remind me of Sedona.

For this mixed media, I sewed the paper like a hem, used flowers, embellishments, old snap-ons from Laurie's grandmothers goodie box {thanks again Cracker} and odd assortments of flowers,chipboard, transparency pieces and of course ribbon and a major distress storm.

I change my distress technique and I need to do a demo for you next time. I use my Dremel, saves time and wear and tear on my hands, plus it is fun. I can't believe I didn't think of it until a few weeks ago, after using it to do some little drilling. Yes, little, otherwise, I "borrow" my husband's power tools.

Have a blessed Easter.

Elaine

p.s. we now have a black lab, a chocolate lab, and one turtle

Art history trivia: Mark Twain marketed his patented scrapbook in 1872. They were described as self pasting. Can you believe this writer and scrapbooker made $50,000 off these scrapbooks.

LINCOLN

Lincoln. A word our entire family knows by heart. Why? My husband is a history buff. And A Lincoln is at the top of the list. I never knew history could be fun, until I married a history buff. And from there, Lincoln entered my art.

I attempted an up close on this photo, so you can see my work with batik on the banner and sentiment. And the fun stitching my now deceased sewing machine did. Down to the old grumpy machine. But soon, another machine to add to the studio, that makes some cool stitching.

Peaceful blessings.

Elaine

Lincoln trivia: Major Rathbone and Clara Harris were guest in the Lincoln box when Lincoln was assassinated. Rathbone was seriously wounded and never recovered from the trauma of that evening. Rathbone and Harris were married the next year. Several years later, Rathbone murdered Clara and spent the rest of his life in an asylum.

FLY BABY

Howdy from CT. It's such a gorgeous day. And to think, yesterday we had a dusting of snow. On to the fun stuff. My younger daughter loves to make paper for me. I've been using it in my work. This layout brings back such loving memories. Watching her run in the ocean, until she takes off flying. She laughed and screamed and I watched her soar for hours. She made the paper with stamps, ink, stencils, glimmer mist, you name it, she grabbed it from the studio and went to work. I love it. Kids don't think, they create and so naturally.

This, of course, is a major Elaine distress storm with winds of mixed media adhered to it. I love finding items and using them. Just too much fun. Still using Laurie's ribbon and buttons that she passed on to me. {thank you again and again}
Close up of buttons and tiles, with a back ground of homemade papers.

More wonderful paper and the brad Courtney made. Even distressed that pretty brad. The distress ink went wild.

...The picture corner uses lace, buttons, thread, homemade paper, Courtney's brads, odds and ends. And of course a photo of my baby girl, who has grown so much over the years. And that is the end of yesterdays distressed mixed media storm.

Peace to all.

Elaine

Art history trivia: Samuel Langhorne Clemens was an avid scrapbooker. Sunday was his scrapping day. Yes, that is Mark Twain.

Lennon and Gourds

My dearest pal, Laurie made this for me. What a great birthday present. She's the best. {Thanks again, Cracker.} Isn't it beyond words. It's a mixed media of acrylic paintings. You can see more of her wonderful work here: http://www.grahamlambert.com/



For some gourd decor, Aunt Sue sent my younger daughter a wonderful gourd bunny for Easter, it lights up, has a big pink tail and a floppy ear. Bet Courtney will be happy to see a floppy ear. Thanks Sue.


Off to the studio, to work with that Graphic 45 paper. Hope my friend Lisa, framed hers and is using the rest for scrapping.

Remember, never never never give up! {Winston Churchill}
Elaine

Art history trivia: Around the 17th century people wrote poems, drew pictures, wrote about hobbies, pasted news articles in a Common form book. Many decorated the book with wall paper. Along the way it grew in different forms. Sound familiar? Scrapbooking!

Courtney's brads

My friend Courtney made these wonderful brads. I can't wait to show you how I used them. Tomorrow, ok. I had to order these, beach girl that I am. Thanks Courtney! I love them.

Peace!

Elaine

Art history trivia. Did you know that while he was alive, Van Gogh sold only one painting for $50.00.

Talk about inspiration...

Hello! We had a wonderful time at the Inspiration Station in CT. Debbie and Donna returned from a weekend trip discovering new products and techniques. Donna demonstrated techniques from the Tim Holtz class she attended. Here are the ones I made.

This is an alcohol ink mixed with three colors, then stamped. All cards were hit with my distress storm, can't live without inking the sides. Makes it so complete.
Alcohol ink with stamp and embellishments. I love the colors, so spring like.

Grunge board flowers, from die cut. I learned that you can't use Nestabilities with the grunge board. Apparently it is not thick enough to cut the grunge. But all the other cuts work with the grunge.

Another alcohol ink card, mixed with stamping and embellishments. That rectangle is a small domino, coated with alcohol ink and then some bling on it. The paper clip was found at Staple. Donna hit the jackpot with embellishments.

Of course, it would not be a trip to the lss if I did not buy some Graphic 45 paper. I love that paper, it's so beautiful, I have to buy two, so I can frame one! I am hooked on it.

Blessings.

Elaine

http://jancology.com/blog/archives/da-vinci-vitruvian-man.jpg

Art history trivia: Leonardo da Vinci drawing, Vitruvian Man, was inspired by Vitruvius, an ancient Rome architect. This architect wrote that a man's body, with arms outstretched, could be inscribed in both a circle and a square.

KISS Challenge

Hello, back with another sketch challenge. This one is called KISS sketch challenge. Keep it simple scrapper = KISS.


Here are two KISS sketch cards I did. I embossed the background, adhered embellishments, and used a sentiment stamp. It is simple, clean and fun to do. Can't wait to see what you posted.
Peace!
Elaine

Art history trivia. Did you know that both Leondaro da Vinci and Michelangelo, were both Renaissance artist, lived at the same time, were rivals and left handed?

And we are off...

It's April 1st and the blog is up and running, no joke! Now back to the studio and to my ever growing to do list, that my brain keeps making up. Many swaps, challenges, cards, layouts and submission float in those brain cells. Thank goodness we hoard sketch books in this house.

I'm working from old family photos I picked up in Texas last summer. I sort through a stash of photos and go to work.

The first is The Aunt. Mixed media. I used the almost dead sewing machine, and it still did a few stitches for me. The zig zags are zig break zag, great for mixed media, eh! Used stencil and Glimmer Mist for the background. And lots of paper flowers. Wonderful to see flowers, especially while I made this, it was snowing outside.

And Aunt SFK 55 Style. I just love Graphic 45 papers dearly. It's beautiful. I want to frame it. My dear friend Cracker, (thanks again) sent me the vintage lace, ok, a bag of lace, ribbon and bias, that I am still drooling over.
I'll post the third one soon. It is prepped and awaiting my ink stained hands.

Blessings,

Elaine